Now, I’m no stranger to cryptic ad campaigns. Sometimes they’re clever. Sometimes they’re just lame and confusing – like the one that’s been on the bus shelter at the mall terminal for the past 4 years near where I live, which shows only a a bust of some smiling, besuited guy and his name at the bottom. Nothing else. (Probably a real estate agent, but I’ve never bothered to confirm that.)
Just this morning I noticed what seems to be a fairly large campaign, and I can’t for the life of me figure out what it’s pushing – it’s clearly not what it purports to be.
So far I’ve seen two “busboards” (billboards on the sides of buses) and one bus shelter poster. The busboards feature a caption, a byline at the bottom, and a “product” shot on the right – a bottle of pills with a loose one at the base of the bottle with the “product” name on it. The bus shelter poster is the same but with a photo of a happy family at the top. I only had my cell phone with me so I was able to take a few crappy shots.
Busboard 1:
Caption: “Obay[sup]TM[/sup] works where other parental controls, like shouting, don’t.”
Byline: “From the makers of WhyBecauseISaidSo[sup]TM[/sup]”
Busboard 2:
Caption: “Are your kids starting to think for themselves? Put a stop to it with Obay[sup]TM[/sup].”
Byline: Same as above.
Bus shelter poster:
Caption: “Our teenagers don’t have their own goals anymore. Obay[sup]TM[/sup] works like a charm.”
Byline: Same.
It’s obviously some sort of creepy, reverse psychology ad, but there’s no indication what it’s for. Children’s Aid Society, perhaps? Some kind of anti-child abuse campaign? Or perhaps Kids Help Phone? I dunno. There’s nothing else on these boards/posters but what you see and read here.
That’s kind of amusing, but I don’t think the two are related. That site seems primarily to be an eBay parody with an anti-war/anti-US/anti-bush agenda. The campaign in my OP seems aimed pretty squarely at some sort of child abuse/oppression/brainwashing thing.
Could be a recognition test marketing exercise to validate the bus company’s advertising space.
They did this in Dublin for men’s lipstick in a variety of “macho” colours (e.g. blue and black).
Not only was there huge recognition for the ad, providing evidence to show that the bus company’s advertising spots were effective - but they were also overwhelmed with enquiries from men as to where they could buy the lipstick!
Interesting. It’s definitely viral, and being phase 1 of something makes sense. (I figured it must be leading to something but I couldn’t think where.) It appears to have been successful so far, judging by the buzz you’ve dug up (and the fact that it’s been Dugg).
Parenting sounds like a good possibility, perhaps with some church backing. (For some reason it reminds me very vaguely of the religious campaign from several years back that featured billboards like, “‘We need to talk.’ -God.”) Dunno about the anti-big-pharma message – that aspect seems incidental to the framing of the campaign; the real message is clearly something to do with parenting through a reverse-attack on the “green pill” approach to it.
The shelter poster picture was in Mississauga (Hurontario & Britannia, southwest corner). It was the second of two I passed on the way, the first being further north towards Derry.
Would a church be so obviously anti-free-thought? Churches usually point out the benefits of membership (“Avoid Hell! Follow these easy steps.”); this would seem to take it to the free-thinkers’ battlefield.
Hmm. I’ll have to be more observant. Usually I’m on the #82 bus which goes mostly along the 401 to and from Meadowvale North business park, so I don’t see that many Mississauga bus shelters.
Domain Name: becauseisaidso.com
Created On: 2002-01-17T06:35:51Z
Expiration Date: 2009-01-17T06:35:51Z
Registrant Name: Amy Preston
Registrant Street1: c/o Tiger Technologies LLC
Registrant Street2: PO Box 7596, Dept W2638
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City: Berkeley
Registrant State/Province: CA
Registrant Postal Code: 94707-0596
Registrant Country: US
Admin Name: Amy Preston
Admin Street1: c/o Tiger Technologies LLC
Admin Street2: PO Box 7596, Dept W2638
Admin Street3:
Admin City: Berkeley
Admin State/Province: CA
Admin Postal Code: 94707-0596
Admin Country: US
Admin Phone: +1.5105273131
Admin Email: x.a0026380014895ef@whois.tigertech.net
Tech Name: Tiger Technologies LLC
Tech Street1: c/o Tiger Technologies LLC
Tech Street2: PO Box 7596, Dept W2638
Tech Street3:
Tech City: Berkeley
Tech State/Province: CA
Tech Postal Code: 94707-0596
Tech Country: US
Tech Phone: +1.5105273131
Tech Email: x.t0026380012d875b@whois.tigertech.net
Name Server: NS1.TIGERTECH.NET
Name Server: NS2.TIGERTECH.BIZ
Name Server: NS3.TIGERTECH.ORG
Tigertech.net seems to be a domain name registation / web hostingcompany.
In addition to owning the “becauseisaidso.com” page, they also advertise on it.
It’s a bit counterintuitive, I admit, and there may not be any religious connection. That’s just purely speculation on my part, but it could also be a ploy to try and cloak a religious message in a veneer of relevance to attract the less devout.
Tastes of Chocolate - I’m thinking that website and its owner may be coincidental. It’s a US registrant, yet the campaign seems exclusive to Canada, and the actual byline reads “WhyBecauseISaidSo” – an important distinction when you’re trying to link a tagline to a webiste, however surreptitiously.
Not only that but the website lacks the look and feel of the bus ads, and the content is 100% different. Amy’s site looks like it’s full of Amy’s interests, not anything remotely connected to the bus ads.
The Obay.com guy says the Obay campaign has nothing to do with him. I find his speculation that the Obay pills campaign might have something to do with Scientology interesting, though.
